Kenya Confirms Second Ebola Case, Found in Quarantine

Kenya has confirmed a second case of Ebola, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, October 14. The patient is a 39 year old man, a close family member of the country's first case, and he was already in quarantine when he fell ill.

Kenya now has two confirmed cases and one death. The ministry said the two cases are linked and that there is no evidence the virus has spread in the wider community.

Found in quarantine

The man developed fever, fatigue and joint pains on Tuesday, October 13, while health teams were checking him daily in quarantine. They isolated him at once and took samples. Tests at the National Virology Reference Laboratory and at the Kenya Medical Research Institute CDC laboratory both came back positive, the ministry said.

He has been moved to a designated treatment centre, where he is receiving supportive care. Director General for Health Patrick Amoth said the case was caught early because the man was already being monitored, and that early care improves his chances of recovery. Health teams are also checking people who had contact with him since his symptoms began, including quarantine staff and health workers.

The first case

The first patient was a 40 year old Kenyan man who had been living in Congo, where he had been ill for about a month and treated at two health facilities. He travelled by road to Uganda, then flew to Nairobi on October 3, where a relative drove him to hospital. He tested positive for Ebola on October 5 and died the same day.

That journey has raised questions about border screening. The patient crossed from Congo into Uganda even though that border has been closed since May, Reuters reported. Kenya has since tightened screening at border crossings and airports.

128 contacts

By October 13, health officials had identified 128 contacts of the first patient. They had traced 113 of them. Of those, 108 are in quarantine in Kenya, with daily clinical checks and temperature checks for 21 days from their last possible exposure. Five contacts are outside Kenya, and health authorities in those countries have been told. Tracing of the remaining 15 contacts is still going on.

The ministry urged people to stay calm but alert, and to report suspected illness through its emergency hotline. It has not imposed restrictions on travel, trade or public gatherings.

The wider outbreak

Kenya is the fourth country to record a case linked to the Ebola epidemic in Congo, which Reuters described as the second largest on record. The Congo outbreak was declared in mid May and is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a rare strain. Uganda reported 20 cases and two deaths earlier this year but was declared Ebola free in August. A doctor who returned to France from Congo in June tested positive, with no further spread.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the body fluids of an infected person who is sick or has died. It can cause fever, vomiting and diarrhoea, and in severe cases internal and external bleeding.